Dry kiln



July 26 1927.

' culs.' ULLIN DRY imm Filed Aug. la.v 192e I q-' Z ma ATTORNEY Patented July 26, 1927.

PATENT foFFlcE.

CARL G. ULLIN, F CENTRALIA, WASHINGTON.

DRY KILN.

Application filed August 18, 1926.

This invention relates to kilns such as used for drying sawmill products such as lumber and shingles.

The object of the invention, generally stated is the provision of apparatus for use in dry kilns whereby material contained therein will be treated to the action of steam, air and heat in a manner to season and dry the individual pieces of the material more 1o uniformly than is done by other dry kiln systems.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide means whereby the air or drying medium surrounding the material within a dry kiln may be regulated to control the humidity thereof and also the circulation of such air to afford most advantageous results.

The invention consists in the novel construction, adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described andn particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

A dry kiln embodying the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein,-

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section taken substantially on line 1 1 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

` In said drawing the reference numeral 4 designates as a whole, a dry kiln which may be of any usual or suitable construction. The chamber 5 of said kiln is represented with openings at its ends for which are provided doors 6.

The kiln is provided interiorly with track rails 7 for trucks carrying a load of material to be dried or seasoned, said trucks and load being indicated by dotted lines 8 and 9 respectively in Fig. 2. Located in the lower portion of the kiln chamber is a plurality of pipes 10 constituting with headers or manifolds 11 a system of heating coils which is supplied with steam at a high temperature from a steam generator not shown.

Also located in the lower portion of said chamber is a pipe 12 into which is supplied steam from the generator, above mentioned,

the pipe 12 being provided with perforations 13 through which the steam is delivered into the kiln chamber to humidify the air contained therein during the early stages of the lumber seasoning operation.

The steam to the pipe 12 is supplied through a pipe 14 and is regulated or enseriai No. 129,931.

parts are or may be employed in dry kiln pracand with a conduit 16 for the return of the heating medium into said chamber, said return conduit bein located desirably in the lower portion or' t e chamber.

As shown, said conduits are disposed longitudinally oi the kiln and are apertured as at 151 and 161 to afford direct communication with the interior of the chamber 5 in spaced apart relations lengthwise of the respective conduits. The draw-offvconduit 15 is connected by a pipe 17 with the suction opening of an air blower 18, the delivery or' the latter being through a pipe 19which is connected tangentially with the cylindrical upper portion 20 of a centrifugal separator 21 having a funnel shaped lower portion 22 with an exhaust outlet pipe 23 atits lower end. Extending axially into the upper portion ofsaid separator to below the elevation of the outlet of pipe 19 is a cylindrical tube 24 which is open at its lower end and has its upper end above the separator connected by a pipe 25 with the return air conduit 16 within the kiln chamber.

Dampers or valves, denoted by 171, 23:l and 251, respectively, are provided for the pipes 17, 23 and 25.

The operation of the invention is as follows: The lumber or material 8 (Fig. 2) loaded upon trucks 9 are carried by the latter into the kiln chamber 5 and the doors 6 closed. These doors,.preferably, do not alford a closure sufficient to prevent the leakage of a small quantity of air from the atmosphere outside of the kiln. Live steam is then admitted to the heating coils 10 and also to the pipe 12 from which steam issues in the form of spray or jets through the pipe perforations 13.

The steam discharged into the chamber 5 A. inospliere.;l

serves to huniify the material to season the saine preparatory to drying. After the inaterialglgastbeen thus .treated ,for a time .dependent upon the character *and sizes of the pieces ot' material to be treated, the valve 14;1 is closed to shut oiffthe supplyof. steam into the air Within the kiln chamber.

While the air or heating agent is being' thus charged with Water in the form of steam, the heating colis 10 are desirably operate d p y y "To 4dry thematerial, thenioisture is sep; arated` from the airl by ineans of the separator 2lfto'pern1itj tlieheated air to be used repeatedly,lory the liuinid air may be withdrawn tofbemreplaced by air ,admitted through 'leakage at'door ways'forotherwise. Thefl'blxwerl actsto Withdraw the lnnnid air "through conjdiiitfluf, and the pipe 17, and tlien 'delivering tangentially into the separatorQl toctfect* circulatory travel of the ittlu'id therein. l y

By closing the valve 25 and opening the valve 23 Ythe iiuid-air and water-is exhailsted V.through pipe `Eli-3 Eto i the external at- .,lfVitlitherli/nlye 231 closedmor nearly so, and the valve 2,5? fopen, the water isrenioved by centrifugal iorce't'roni the air which is returnedthroughgpipes Q4 and 25 and condilit i 12 back into` the kiln the supe rheated water. collectingv ilpon the `peripheral vwall of` the separator 2l i gravitatea to theV bottom of thelatterlo bedischarged., through the pipeggr' muy. v

.,Frpni the foregoing. it-.is 'apparent ftliat the; vpresent "invention "provides i ap paratus whichl may` be y operated and. ycontrolled to prod11ceii1'-st, a increment within the kiln offtheihenting medium i'roin the intake cont digity 1,'2k tonihetzdischarge conduit; second,

the regulating of the humidity of the heating niediuin; and, third, the means to replace and change the airrwitln `rtheikillii.

-`\Vfl1ile have 1illustrated an `embodiment of the invention now preferred by me, I do ,not confine myself conny arrangement or combination o'l parts except as limited by the' lappended claims.

What I claim, is,-

1.` In a dry kiln, the combination of air inlet andlkoutlet conduits provided in spaced apartrelat'ion within the lkiln chamber, pipe connectione between the conduits, a "blower tojel'ect Vthe circulation o1 air 'between said condliits ywithin the chamber andlsaid pipe connections, means to inoisten' the air within tlie'fcliainber, a separator associated with said pipe yconnections for removing moisture from the .air passing through the pipe 'conncctione, said separator having an` exhaust opening into the atmosphere exteriorly of the kiln, and valves for regulating the pas-` sage ofair through said pipe connections and intov the external Iai inosphere, selectively;

2. lin a dry-kiln, a means to supply steam Vinto the leiln chauibe1an air in'letpipe and an air outlet pipe conununicating witlrthe kiln chamber in spaced apart relation, a ppmer-xlriren lblower connected ito saidvoutlet p1 pe, a separator, Apipe connections. .between i said blowerand.tlierseparator nndalso bef tween ytl'ie latter and said outlet pipe, said separator haringen opening into the atmosf p'here exteriorly o't` the kiln, and values prof videdinsajithpipe connections and in .the

separator opening to regulate the passage ot air through saiclinletfand `'outlet pipes, and to. fthe Yexternal atmosphere, selectwely. Signed at Centralia, l/Vasliington, ktliislst day oil" August, 1925, V l y GARLGULLIN 

